About UOS

The University of the Sea is a partnership between the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the Australian National University, the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Tokyo, the Korean Ocean Research and Development Institute, Tongji University China, the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans Canada, the National Institute of Oceanography Goa, and the Indonesian Research Centre for Marine Technology. Together these institutions make up the Asian Neighbours Global Change Network, whose secretariat is located at the University of Sydney (http://www.usims.org.usyd.edu.au/floating.html).

The University of the Sea programme is funded by grants from the Toyota Foundation in Japan, the Australian Earth Systems Science Network (through the ARC), and the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research. The programme is made possible by the support of the French Polar Institute (IPEV) who host the University of the Sea onboard their research vessel the Marion Dufresne.

The University of the Sea is dedicated to building marine science capacity in the Asia Pacific region. It aims to bring together senior researchers and young local scholars to address marine science issues of direct interest to the region. The programme endeavours to give these students the opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge required for participation in the global debate on the use of the ocean.

The first University of the Sea training program took place in the Coral Sea – Arafura Sea region onboard the French research vessel Marion Dufresne between June 24 and July 8, 2005. The ship sailed from Port Moresby (PNG) to Darwin (Australia).

During this two-week period, twenty students representing ten countries [Australia, P.R. China, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Sri Lanka] got “hands on” practical experience in both marine data collection and marine research problem solving. The students were under the supervision of Professor Patrick De Deckker (Australian National University) and Assoc. Professor Jock Keene (The University of Sydney).

The 2006 cruise is exploring the South West Pacific.